The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

Remember these men who, sadly, are no longer with us: Matt McQuinn, Jonathan Blunk, and Alex Teves. One of the prime duties of any man is to defend those he loves, and these gentlemen lived up to that responsibility at the cost of their lives:

They took bullets for their beloveds.

Three young men are being hailed as heroes for their old-fashioned chivalry and courage under fire in saving the lives of their girlfriends.

While using their bodies as shields, Matt McQuinn, 27, Jonathan Blunk, 26, and Alex Teves, 24, were killed in the worst mass shooting in US history.

Nine others were also murdered when deranged gunman James Holmes unloaded a fusillade of bullets into the packed Century 16 theater early Friday in Aurora, Colo.

McQuinn dived in front of his girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, also 27, when the gunfire erupted. She was shot in the knee. McQuinn was fatally struck three times.

Jonathan Blunk threw his date, Jansen Young, 21, to the floor, pushing her under the seat.

“Stay down!” he told her, moments before he was shot to death.

“He took a bullet for me,” Young told NBC’s “Today” show.

“He always talked about if he were going to die, he wanted to die a hero,” Blunk’s estranged wife, Chantel Blunk, told NBC News.